


The Barrel's Bastard Daughter

by red_carnations



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Death, Gen, Genderbending, Period-Typical Sexism, canon events but with a twist, girl!kaz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-13 02:26:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19241944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/red_carnations/pseuds/red_carnations
Summary: Kaz is nine when she first arrives in Ketterdam, hand tucked into her older brother's as her wide eyes drink in the city.





	The Barrel's Bastard Daughter

**Author's Note:**

> I'm very into Six of Crows at the moment, and this idea refused to let me go.

Kaz is eight when Jordie says he'll always be around to protect her, seated on the floor of the little farm house they call home.

"Any boys hurt you, they'll have to answer to me," he says, flexing one skinny arm.

Indignant, Kaz says she can take care of herself, which makes Jordie laugh.  Their father pinches Kaz's cheek and tells her not to worry about boys for now, but to mind her brother and see that the chores get done.

Kaz is nine when their father dies, when Jordie covers her eyes so she doesn't have to see his body, when the authorities arrive and talk to Jordie well into the night.  Jordie sends her off to bed well before they get into the legal work, and Kaz barricades herself in her room, too tired and numb with shock to cry.  She's nine when Jordie decides it's too much work to keep the farm and tells her they'll be going to the city, and won't it be grand? Kaz is nine when she first arrives in Ketterdam, hand tucked into her older brother's as her wide eyes drink in the city.

"It's so big," she says to Jordie.

"Don't worry," Jordie says, squeezing her hand.  "I'll make sure you won't get lost."

"I'm not worried," Kaz says.  It's the truth - already, Ketterdam, with its sprawling, tangled streets and noisy crowds, feels like home.

Kaz is nine when Mister Hertzoon takes them in, tells Jordie he's a smart young lad and tells Kaz she's pretty.  Jordie says she doesn't belong in business, but that she can learn how to keep house from Margit and play with Saskia, a girl about her age.  Margit ruffles Kaz's dark hair and teaches her a little cooking. 

The people in the coffee house always have a friendly word for her, and the man behind the counter gives her free hot chocolate with a wink.  Kaz drinks the hot chocolate, but wanders out to watch the magicians, marveling at the way they can turn ordinary things magical.  She tells Jordie she wants to learn to make cards and coins disappear, but he only laughs again and drags her back to the Hertzoons'.

She's still nine when she and Jordie are forced to wander the streets looking for somewhere, anywhere to stay; nine when she falls asleep in a pile of boxes and wakes up in a pile of corpses.  She's small and weak, but somehow, she drags herself into the canal, clutching onto Jordie's body as if it will bring him back.  He can't protect her anymore, but it turns out he does save her life.  In a way.

Kaz is ten when she cuts her hair short, ten when she's thrown out of a bar because they don't hire girls, ten when she leaves a man bleeding in an alley because he said she couldn't hack it on the streets.  She picks pockets and locks, fights unfairly, cheats at cards.  She earns the name "Dirtyhands" and gives anyone who tells her she's good at what she does for a girl a black eye.  She puts on her gloves and doesn't take them off.  She gets taller (though she's still short for her age, and skinny as a rail), and by the time she reaches thirteen, she's giving anyone who calls her "pretty" a black eye, too.

When she shows up in Per Haskell's office to ask for a job, he nearly laughs her out of the room.  Kaz looks him in the eye and tells him to reconsider.  Everything inside her is still burning from her encounter with "Hertzoon", and if a beating is what it takes to get this old man to take her seriously, that's fine with her.  Per Haskell must see it, because he takes her on right then and there.

Kaz is fifteen when she's all but running the Dregs, though she still has to deliver the odd crackdown to ensure their obedience.  She hires boys and girls alike - anyone who's good at their job - and if Per Haskell's crew doesn't like it, they can talk to her cane.  She gets the Crow Club running, renovates the Slat, fixes up Fifth Harbor.  It's exhausting, but she tells herself it'll be worth it when she kills Pekka Rollins at last.

"Saints, Kaz," Jesper says to her one night as they pore over a note to another gang.  "Do you ever sleep?"

Kaz scowls into her liquor, swiping a piece of choppy black hair out of her eyes.  "Not if I can help it."

"Hm." Jesper takes another drink, then grins.  "Explains all the spelling mistakes in this letter."

Kaz is sixteen when she first meets Inej Ghafa.  It's on one of her routine trips to the Menagerie, and the place still makes Kaz's skin crawl.  The first time, Tante Heleen had looked Kaz over like a show dog and proclaimed she'd fetch a fine price in certain parts of the Barrel - until Kaz threatened to strangle her with her own diamond choker.  Now, she straightens her suit and tie and starts across the parlor, but a voice in her ear makes her stop dead.

"I can help you."

Kaz turns.  It's a little Suli girl, even shorter than Kaz herself, with long dark hair loose down her back.  She's drowning in purple silk, bells tied to her wrists and ankles, and yet she'd managed to sneak up on Kaz Brekker without being detected.   _No one_ gets away with that.

But somehow, Kaz doesn't mind.  In fact, she goes back to the Slat that night and tells Per Haskell she's found a new spider.

Kaz is sixteen when she sees Inej perched on the attic windowsill to feed the crows and forgets how to breathe.  Inej's dark hair, her long lashes, mesmerize Kaz so much that for the first time in years, she's well and truly lost for words. 

Kaz is sixteen when she finds herself wondering what it would be like to hold Inej's hand.

Kaz is seventeen when she does.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. If you liked it, don't hesitate to leave your thoughts in the comment section.


End file.
